Construction of oyster-shucking establishments.



A. PHILLIPS. CONSTRUCTION OF OYSTER SHUC KING ESTABLISHMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-29,1916.

Patented Feb. 27, 1917.

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A. PHILLIPS.

CONSTRUCTION OF OYSTER SHUCKING ESTABLISHMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.29, l9l6.

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ALBANU-S PHILLIPS, or CAMBRIDGE, MARYLAN CONSTRUCTION OF OYSTER-SHUCKING ESTABLISHMENTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 27, 1917.

Application filed September 29, 1916. Serial No. 122,951.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBANUS PHILLIPS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cambridge, in the county of Dorchester and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Construction of Oyster-Shucking Establishments, of which the following is a specification, reference being had thereinto the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to improvements in the construction of oyster shucking establishments, having in view a number of important objects.

One of which is to provide a construction which does away with the dirt, sand, mud, damp and cold and uncomfortable surroundings and conditions usually found in oyster shucking establishments, thereby providing a construction and arrangement'which is clean and, therefore, sanitary; which is dry and warm; well ventilated and well lighted thereby making it comfortable for the workers, thus materially increasing their efficiency.

Another object of my present invention is to decrease the cost of shucking oysters by providing means whereby the oysters are supplied by gravity (and, therefore, automatically) to the shuckers on the frontedge of the shucking tables as rapidly as they are used, which materially increases the efficiency of the shuckers, and, consequently, correspondingly decreases the cost'of shucking the oysters.

Another object of my invention is to provide a construction whereby all the water and liquor from the oysters are automatically conveyed from the shuckers tables by gravity to a suitable trough or passage through which the water and liquor are carried off and prevented from accumulating on the floor of the building, therefore making it dry, clean, sanitary and comfortable.

Another object of my invention is to pro vide a construction whereby the shuckers benches and all parts connected therewith, including the trough or pass'ageway'for the disposal of the water and liquor, can be readily and individually removed for cleaning purposes.

Another obj ect of my invention is to elimihate the usual discord among the shuckers due to an alleged discrimination claimed by one getting better oysters than another,and

thereby eliminating all argument in that respect which is found also tomaterially increase the efficiency of the workers.

Another object ofv my'invention is to so construct and arrange the structure that the women can be separated from the men and the white workers from the colored, all of which serve materially for harmony among the workers and adds much to their efficiency and correspondingly decreases the cost.

Another object of my invention is to so construct and arrange the structure that the clothing of the shuckers is kept free from mud, dirt and sand, free from shells and water and always clean, together with clean and dry floors which is usually not true in oyster shucking establishments.

Another object of my invention is to effect a material saving by providing an individual inspection of the shells of the shucked oysters. In this way carelessness of the shuckers in throwing outunshucked oysters and wastein not cleanly cutting the oysters from the shellsare readily observable upon the individual inspection and aflords a means for stopping such carelessness. In the practical operation of this improvement, this indi-' vidual inspection is found to effect a very material saving.- I j There are further objects and advantages accruing from the use of my improvement which will be referred to hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings- Figurel is a sectional view of an oyster shucking establishment which embodies my invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a part of the structure embodying my invention.

Fig 3' is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken transversely through one of the oyster chutes and shuckingbenches.

Fig. 4 is a partial plan view showing the conveying runways to the chutes and the conveying platform communicating with the said runways.

Those who] are familiar with theoyster packing industrywill know how uninviting and uncomfortable, gloomy and unsanitary these establishments usually are, because of the usual poor lighting and heating, and be cause of the wet and dirty floors found in such establishments due to the accumulation of oyster shells with their accompanying dampness, mud, sand, and other uninviting' conditions. These conditions exist to such an extent in the ordinary oyster shucking establishments, that persons visiting them are apt to lose much of their appetite for these otherwise very palatable bivalves. All of these unattractive, unsanitary, and uncomfortable conditions heretofore existing in establishments of this character are overcome by my improved arrangement and structure, to such an. extent that the impression given to those visiting the establishment is cleanliness, sanitary and comfortable conditions, and quite the opposite impression is obtained from that common to such establishments heretofore. I

In carrying out my present improvement, I' provide a structure made up of a ground or inspection room 1, and a. working or shucking room 2. This structure preferably,

though. not necessarily, will have its beams 3 set in concrete foundation 4. The top 5 of the structure is provided with a plurality of skylights 6, for the purpose of providing light from above and is provided with a suitable number of wall windows 7 for providing side lighting. A suitable number of passageways or doors 8 are provided for the working or shucking floor and similar doors l e r or passages 9 for the inspection floor 1.

My improved shucking benches and oyster supply therefor is shown clearlyin Fig. 3. It comprises an oyster chute 10 having at its upper end a laterally extending supply run- 7 way 11. The upper end is open as shown at 10 to receive the oysters either from a wheelbarrow or from a suitable conveyer, neither of which is here shown. The chute 10 will be filled with oysters and they flow out the lower end on to a separating bar 14,'which has inclined sides15 and a central projection 16, which serve, to cause the oysters to fall to each side of the separating or division bar 15 and be deposited, at the inner edge of the shuckers bench 17. These shucker benches or stations may or may not be provided with a supplemental board 18, for the purpose of taking the wear of the shucking operations. Preferably, such a board is used, but it is not essential to the carrying out of my present invention. These shucker benches 17 are located, as shown, at each side of the division or separatingbar 15, so -that there is a shuokers bench at each side of the separatingbar 15, and at each side of thelower end of the oyster chute 10.

Each of these shucker benches 17 is provided with a shell opening 19, and when a supplemental shucker board 18 is used, it is provided with a registering shell opening 20. These shell openings communicate'with a separate shell receiving chute 21, which,

' preferably, converge under the shucker W The spring latches 24. The shuckers push or drop the shells through the openings 19 as the oysters are shucked and they accumulate in the chutes 21, so that the shells of the shucked oysters and any unshucked oysters of each shucker is retained within these chutes until they can be inspected, when the door of the chute is opened and the contents thereof are deposited on a wheelbarrow or suitable conveyer, not shown, which provides an individual inspection station.

In this way a constant watch can be kept on each individual shucker at the inspection station to see that there is no waste in the way of unshucked oysters and any waste in the failing to cleanly cut the oyster from the shell. In large establishments where a large number of shuckers are working, it is found.

that there is a large waste in unshucked on the shuckers a large saving is accomplished and to an extent that is unbelievable to those who have not actually tested it out.

The shucked oysters,of course, are deposited by the shucker in a suitable recep tacle (not shown) and the waste liquor and water from the oysters run down the incline shucker benches 17 and into a trough or passage 25 located directly under the inner edges ofthe adjacentshucking benches 17. The shucking benches. and the division or eparating bar 15 are made of rough unplaned lumber, sothat'they do not tightly fit and the liquor and water'find their way under the division bar 15 between its under projection 26 and the adjacent rough edges ofthe shucking tables 17 to the trough 25 below. This waste liquor and water are then conveyed away to any desired point or points through the trough or passage 25. In this way-the floor 22 of the shucking room is kept dry and comfortable to the shuckers, for the waste Water and liquor are not permitted to accumulate on the floor as it does under the old shucking system.

The division bar 1-5 and the shuckers table 17 are removable so access is readily had to the trough 2,5,for the purpose of cleaning it out whennecessary.

These shucking benches can be made of any desired length and are preferably placed inrows in thebuilding, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the oyster chutes are located above the benches, as shown, and in this waythe oyster chutes and the benches sui'liciently divideup the shucking room to avoid the disagreeable drafts that are occasioned :in the usual oyster shucking room.

Furthermore, it enables the conveying runway 11 to be provided which extends along the oyster chutes 10 and longitudinal the benches, so that the oysters can be conveyed from a storage or supply point and dumped into the separate oyster chutes 10. To avoid the falling of the oysters, water or dampness or drippings from the runway on to the shuckers below, the runway is at a slight angle toward the oyster chutes sothat any water or drippings will be conveyed into the chute and the falling of the oysters on the edge olf the runway 11 is prevented by a suitable board or flange 27, and to prevent the oysters from being thrown over the opposite edge of the upper end of the chute 10 and thereby fall on the workers below, the

wall of the chute is extended upward above its upper end, as shown at 28. In this way the falling of the water and oysters from the conveying runway above is prevented.

The division bar 15 serves to cause a supply of oysters'to always be provided to the shuckers at opposite sides thereof. This arrangement eliminates discussion and discord between the shuckers about the character of the oysters they are getting and it provides an uninterrupted and constant supply of oysters to the shuckers. Owing to the straight sides of the chutes 10, the oysters readily fall therethrough to the division bars and fall to the opposite sides thereof in convenient locations for the shuckers.

A further advantage of this construction is that the oysters are shucked in the order in which they are supplied to the shuckers. That is to say, the oysters first supplied must be shucked and there cannot be any accumulation of stale oysters as does occur where there is no way to insure the oysters being shuc-ked in the order in which they are delivered to the shuckers. Any oysters left in the chute 10 at any time, must be 'first shucked before any other oysters are delivered to the shuckers, so that any accumulation of stale oysters is absolutely avoided.

A supply platform or runway 29 is provided at one side of the building in the same plane as the conveying runways 11, and communicating passages 30 are provided. The oysters may be taken from the boat (not shown) and deposited on the shelf or supply runway 29, or they may be taken thereto from a storage room in any convenient manner. They are then conveyed in a suitable way from the supply runway 29 to the chutes 10 of those oyster benches that are being used. I

It will be understood that the rows of shucking benches may be of any desired.

fecting in any manner the spirit and scope of my invention.

I have found in actual practlce of the 1mproved shucking establishment, an increase in efiiciency, easily equal to fifty per cent. over the old methods in addition to affording sanitary, comfortable and attractive surroundings, such as not hereto-fore known in establishements of this character.

I desire it to be understood that certain modifications can be made in the specific construction and arrangement of parts in my improved establishment and still retain many of the advantages thereof without departing from the scope of the broad inven tion here disclosed. For instance, instead of having the individual oyster chutes 10 for the individual shucking tables, these could be made one long chute, but it would lose some of the advantages which have been pointed out, yet it would be a means for feeding the oysters by gravity to the shucking tables and therefore be an advantage.

Also a single continuous shell chute for all of the various tables could be provided instead of individual chutes. This would lose very largely the advantage of individual inspection, but it would at the same time provide a means for instantly getting the shells and other dirty substances away from the shucking room.

It will be obvious to a skilled mechanic that some of the details could be changed without deviating from the idea of the in v 1. An improved oyster shucking" establishment comprising a shucking room provided with a shucking bench, a shell chute for each bench extending downwardly therefrom and having a closure at its lower portion, an oyster supply chute above the shucking table whereby oysters are supplied to the shucking table by gravity and g the shucked oyster shells conveyed to a point below where they can be individually inspected.

2. An improved shucking establishment comprising a shucking room, having a shucking bench, an oyster shell chute extending from the bench through the floor, and an oyster chute above the shucking bench having a lower open end located directly above one edge of the shucking bench to deliver oysters thereto by gravity whereby the oysters are supplied to the shucker and the shells with their accompanying dirt instantly conveyed from the shucking room.

3. An improved shucking establishment comprising a shucking room having a shucking bench, an oyster shell chute extending from the bench through the floor whereby from the shucking room, an oyster chute above the shucking bench and conveying oysters by gravity thereto, and a liquor and water conveyer communicating with the shucking bench whereby the water and oyster shells are instantly conveyed away from the shucking bench.

4. An oyster shucking establishment comprising a shucking room, a shucking bench therein declining away from the position of the shucker, and a trough or passageway at the lower end of the shucking bench for conveying away the water and liquor from the oysters.

5. An improved shucking establishment comprising a shucking room, a plurality of shucking tables therein declining away from the shuckers, and a liquid conveying trough extending along and common to the shucking benches and receiving the liquid therefrom and conveying it away.

6. An improved shucking establishment comprising a shucking room, a plurality of shucking tables therein, each shucking table having a separate shell chute extending therefrom and through the floor, and an oysterchute above each shucking table for conveying the oysters by gravity thereto, and a liquid conveyer in communication with the several shucking tables for conveying away the liquid and water from the oysters.

7. An improved shucking establishment, comprising a shucking room, an oyster chute therein having an open lower end, a shucking station within the shucking room,

a shell inspection station, and means for conveying the shells from the shucking station to the inspection station.

8. An improved shucking establishment, comprising a shucking room, an oyster chute therein having an open lower end, shucking stations below the lower end of the chute and at opposite sides thereof, and an inspection station for each shucking station, and shell chutes extending from the shucking stations to the inspection stations.

9. An improved shucking establishment comprising a shucking floor, an oyster chute therein having open upper and lower ends, shucking tables located under the open lower end of the chute and extending in opposite directions therefrom, oyster shell chutes extending from the shucking tables through the floor of the shucking room, and a liquid conveyer in communication with the shucking tables whereby the oyster shells and the liquid are instantly conveyed from the shucking tables, for the purpose described.

10. An lmproved shucking establishment comprislng a shuclnng floor, an inspection floor therebelow, a plurality of shucking shell chute for each table and extending through the shucking room floor, the lower portion of the chute provided with a door, whereby the shucked oyster shells and other obj ects in each shell chute can be individually inspected for the purpose described.

11. An improved shucking establishment comprising a shucking room, an inspection room therebelow, of a plurality of individual shucking tables in the shucking room, a plurality of oyster supply chutes thereabove with their lower ends delivering the oysters by gravity to the individual shucking tables, a shell chute for each table and extending through the floor of the shucking room and provided with a door at its lower end, and a liquid conveyer common to and in communication with each of the shucking tables, whereby the liquid and the shells from the shucking tables are instantly conveyed away and whereby the contents of each shell chute can be individually inspected, for the purpose described.

12. An improved shucking establishment comprising a shucking room, a plurality of shucking tables therein, an oyster chute above the tables for supplying oysters thereto, each table having a shell opening, a shell chute in-communication with said opening and extending through the shucking floor, the shucking tables arranged in opposite directions and facing each other with their inner edges under the lower ends of the oyster chute, and a liquid conveyer with an open top under the inner edges of the shucking tables, all combined for the purpose described.

13. An improved shucking establishment comprising a shucking room, an oyster chute therein, shucking tables below the lower end of the chute and extending in opposite directions, the shucking chute havlng an open lower end, and a division bar with inclined sides located between the inner edges of the shucking tables and below the open end of the chute for directing the oysters to both tables.

14. An improved shucking establishment comprising a shucking room, an oyster chute therein, a plurality of shucking tables arrangedbelow the open end of the chute and extending in opposite directions, an open top liquid receiving and conveying trough below the inner edges of the shucking tables, and a removable separating bar between the inneredges of the shucking tables and below the lower end of the oyster chute, all combined for the purpose described.

15. An improved shucking establishment comprising a shucking room, a plurality of shucking tables arranged therein, an oyster chute above the shucking tables with open upper andlower ends, and an oyster conve ing runwayat one side of the upper end of the oyster chute whereby oysters may be conveyed and supplied at various points of the chute for the various shucking tables.

16. An improved shucking establishment comprising a shucking room, a plurality of shucking tables therein, an oyster chute above the shucking tables and having open upper and lower ends, a conveying runway at one side of the upper end of the oyster chute, the outer edge of the runway having a vertical wall and the side of the chute opposite the runway extending above the chute, all for the purpose described.

17 An improved oyster shucking establishment comprising a shucking room, a plurality of shucking tables therein arranged in a row, a plurality of oyster chutes above the tables and also arranged in a corresponding row, the said chutes having open upper and lower ends, a runway at one side of the upper ends of the said chutes whereby oysters can be delivered to the respective chutes and thereby to the respective tables.

18. An improved shucking establishment comprising a shucking room, a plurality of shucking tables therein arranged in parallel rows, oyster chutes arranged in parallel rows over the tables and having open upper and lower ends, a runway at one side of the upper ends of the parallel rows of the chutes, and a, supply runway extending transverse and connecting the ends of the said runways, whereby oysters can be carried from the said supply runway and delivered to the said oyster chutes at various points to supply the various tables.

19. Ari-improved oyster shucking establishment, comprising a shucking room, a shucking benchor station, means for supplying the shucking station with oysters, an inspection station removed from the shucking station, and means for conveying the shells from the shucking station to the inspection station.

20. An improved oyster shucking establishment, comprising a shucking room provided with a shucking station, an inspection room apart from the shucking room provided with a shell inspection station, and means for conveying the shells from the shucking station to the inspection station.

21. An improved oyster shucking establishment, comprising a shucking room provided with a plurality of shucking stations, an inspection room apart from the shucking room provided with a plurality of inspection stations, one for each shucking station, and

means for separately conveying the shells from each shucking station to its separate inspection station, for the purpose described. In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALBANUS PHILLIPS.

Witnesses GRACE PERRY, EDWIN C. HOPKINS, Jr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner oi Patents,

Washington, D. 0.? 

